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MAA to Honor Authors of Year’s Best Books in Mathematics

WASHINGTON, DC - Awards for the year’s best books in mathematics will be given to Matt Parker, Roland van der Veen, and Jan van de Craats by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). The award winners will receive their prizes on Jan. 13 at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Diego, the world’s largest gathering of mathematicians.

Parker will receive the MAA Euler Book Prize, given each year to an author of an outstanding book about mathematics, for Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension. Co-authors van der Veen and van de Craats will be honored with the MAA Beckenbach Book Prize that recognizes the author(s) of a distinguished, innovative book published by MAA Press, for their book The Riemann Hypothesis: A Million Dollar Problem.

Euler Book PrizeThings to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension is an accessible book that includes puzzles, optimal dating algorithms, 4D space monsters, and many other mathematical wonders. Combining humor and hand-drawn illustrations, Parker makes a bevy of complicated mathematical topics fun and engaging.

“Parker’s book takes us on a mathematical journey through geometry, number theory, and knot theory, all while maintaining an effortless writing style that we expect from our Euler Book Prize winners,” said Michael Pearson, executive director of the MAA. “This award goes to those who leave their audience with a lasting, positive experience with mathematics, and Parker’s book does just that.”

Parker is a mathematics communicator and stand-up comedian who regularly appears on the Discovery channel, and has also been awarded the 2018 Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM) Communication Award for his mathematics videos on YouTube. He is also a Public Engagement in Mathematics fellow at Queen Mary University of London.

Beckenbach Book Prize

Taking on one of the most famous open problems in mathematics, The Riemann Hypothesis: A Million Dollar Problem covers a challenging journey that many mathematicians would struggle to communicate concisely. Authors van der Veen and van de Craats have written a masterful book that is an effective introduction to a fascinating mathematical problem.

“The MAA is proud to award the prestigious Beckenbach Book Prize to the creators behind this innovative work on the Riemann Hypothesis which exemplifies the quality we strive for in MAA publications,” said Michael Pearson, executive director of the MAA.

An assistant professor at Leiden University, van der Veen studies topology, representation theory, and mathematical physics. Co-author van de Craats is an emeritus mathematics professor at the University of Amsterdam and had been the coach for the Dutch International Mathematical Olympiad team for many years.

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